Thursday, February 18, 2010

Hamilton Gardens Festival.

If you're in Hamilton this weekend come along to the Ladies' Literatea for high tea and bubbles at 3pm on Saturday. I will be appearing alongside Stephanie Johnson and Alexa Johnston and luckily I am not being made to change my name to fit in. I think it'll be a lovely occasion, and the proceeds are going to the SPCA.

The Hamilton Gardens is a simply stunning venue for a literary event. I did an event, a wonderful relaxed chat, with Jenny Pattrick in 2007, on a balmy summer's evening. I was completely enchanted by the place. With themed gardens from all over the world it is hard to believe you are in Hamilton. I particularly loved the Italian Renaissance Garden and sitting beside the ambling Waikato River I could have imagined myself on the Arno in Florence. It was a particularly blinding hot day the day after the event, and my family and I took in as much as we could before it just got too hot to be outside.

Even if you're not there this weekend, next time you're passing through Hamilton, spend a couple of hours at the Gardens: you won't be disappointed. One of NZ's Best Kept Secrets in my opinion. I'll try and remember to take photos and post them here; in the meantime, here's one of me, looking extremely casual, on that hot hot day:

Hamilton Gardens are included in our Sightseeing postcard exhibition and book project, being launched in Wellington 25 March. So for those of you who love the gardens, there will be very limited edition postcards available. The artist/photographer is Haruhiko Sameshima.

About Me

The Sound of Butterflies was the title of my first novel, published in the UK by Picador, in the US by William Morrow and in New Zealand by Random House, and translated into eight foreign languages. In 2009 my next novel, Magpie Hall, was published in New Zealand by Random House, and in 2012 my first novel for children, Red Rocks. This blog is my thoughts on the world of writing and books.
Photo by Sharon Blance.